Example Applications

Wind in MontanaMontana has wind, lots of wind. The state is ranked among the top five for wind power potential and several large, utility-scale wind farms are in operation. The total capacity of installed commercial wind turbines is more than 500 megawatts. In 2009, Montana ranked 9th in wind electricity generation by state, producing 820,924 MWh of electricity. More than 3 percent of the electricity generated in Montana that year came from wind, a percentage that is even higher today. Judith Gap Wind Farm, Credit: Montana Film OfficeThe following links offer more information about wind and wind development opportunities in Montana. Tax and Other Incentives Wind Data Sources Montana Wind Power Map Permit Requirements Developing Wind Energy on State Lands Basics for Small Wind Energy Systems Net Metering and Easements Wind Powering America U.S. DOE Wind Organizations Commercial Wind Projects Small Wind Installations in Montana AWEA Small Wind Turbine Market Report Wind Powering Montana Workshop Presentations Big Sky, October 3, 2001

NaturEner USA has partnered with WINData LLC and OSIsoft, LLC to improve forecasting of ramp events for the Glacier Wind farms in Montana. The effort is a DOE funded research project to improve forecasts of ramps events for wind farms, titled “Use of real-time off-site observations as a methodology for increasing forecast skill in prediction of large wind power ramps one or more hours ahead of their impact on a wind plant”.

NaturEner is uniquely interested in improving wind forecasts because the Glacier Wind farm operates as a wind only balancing authority, and improved forecasts are the most cost effective way to improve reliability and reduce integration costs. Toward this end, NaturEner has specified performance metrics to quantify the ability of the forecast to predict ramp events. WINData and OSIsoft have created a grid of next generation offsite meteorological sensors in the region around the wind farm, and have contracted with Garrad Hassan to help develop WINDataNOW Technology, a novel forecasting approach to incorporate these measurements. The OSIsoft PI software is being used to collect and transfer the data to Garrad Hassan, and to display the forecasts and measurements to NaturEner’s real time scheduling desk. WINData and Garrad Hassan are presenting promising preliminary results at the UWIG forecasting workshop. NaturEner is now receiving the forecasts and will evaluate their performance operationally.

Combining upstream weather observations with complex forecasting models to increase confidence in day ahead and intra- hour power predictions

Customers can perform routine calculations on a real-time basis as data arrives to the system rather than in batches. These calculations can also be augmented over time so that some users can start simply and expanding their analyses as they discover more applications of interest.

FUTURE DISCUSSION

WINDataNOW is leveraging operating wind plants and technology partners to better describe the possibilities for using high fidelity, real-time meteorological data for wind farm site selection, design and operation.

WINData professional services comprise meteorological (“met”) system array design, tower specification, project installation and data integration to support end user wind integration requirements and forecasting data services. WINData has partnered with OSIsoft to develop “WINDataNOW!”, an advanced meteorological measurement system built on PI, for use as framework for tools used by wind energy system integrators, forecasters and plant operators.

In addition to the owner/operators, the PI system is used extensively by the various Transmission System Operators as the real-time basis for the EMS networks, integrating the various generation sources into the grid. The WINDataNOW! solution provides real-time PI to PI transfer of processed information directly into the scheduling coordinator and system operator environments.